Recipe help (Quinoa)

Hello FS friends...I finally purchased my first box of quinoa I have been wanting to try it for awhile now! The box gives some recipes for more of a main meal. I want to serve it as a side dish with dinner tonight...can anyone please tell me your favorite way to cook it up and serve!

Ooh girl the Mexican Style Black Bean & Quinoa dish is SOOO good! Unfortunately the serving size has to be a little small due to it being somewhat calorie-dense, but it is loaded with protein & other good stuff. LOVE. IT.

too late for last nights dinner, but here is how I fix it...my family loves it. I make a lot and it reheats really well for additional meals:saute about 2 cups chopped/diced vegetables in a Tbl of olive oil for 3-5 min. I use carrots, celery, onion, red peppers and garlic. Then add in 2 cups of quinoa and mix together. Add 1 cup of fat free chicken broth and 3 cups of water. bring to a boil, then simmer for approx 20 min.

We love it here too - my 4 year old likes it with just olive oil, lemon and some cut up celery for crunch. Served room temp or cold like a salad. I just made some the other day for lunch (but could be a side dish with chicken or fish) where I sauteed some onions and mushrooms in olive oil til soft, then threw in a handful of fresh dill and stirred once - then added this mixture to the quinoa with a little salt, a squeeze or two of lemon and some pepper. So delicious. Basically I find it takes to basically any fresh herb, any vegetables. I'm also a big fan of that Mexican recipe that Kat listed above. There's a restaurant we go to that just sprinkles the cooked grains on top of a green salad, and that's a tasty way to eat it too.

I recently fell in love with quinoa. I made it as a pilaf, and put my slow cooker jambalaya ontop of it. The leftovers got measured out & placed into containers. The jambalaya & quinoa mixed beautifully... kinda like a stew. I will have to try the above recipes, sounds great! Might do the mexican one as I happen to have a cup of beans left over from last night's tacos, and have been trying to figure out what to do with them.

I'll mix just about anything into quinoa! Depending on what you want to serve it as a side with, try: sauteed spinach and chopped artichoke hearts; onion, pepper, and lemon juice; pine nuts and golden raisins or currants; pine nuts and feta cheese; oregano, basil, and parmesan.... etc!

Also, you can save leftover quinoa for breakfast-- treat it as you would oatmeal. Add a little milk and reheat, then top with cinnamon, fruit (blackberries, bananas, etc), and a little sweetener (agave, honey, or pure maple syrup). Yum!

My fiancé likes to make it with tofu. He has poultry and pork allergies and was diagnosed with gout on top of it. We switched some of our meats to tofu to make up some protein. It's really good and so simple to make.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away" Which, I believe, include hard workouts!

A really quick one: Cook the quinoa in advance according to package directions, with some cilantro. Then heat up a package of Tasty Bite Madras Lentils. Serve together -- 1/3 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup lentils. Makes a great side dish. Also, you can mix 1/3 cup quinoa into a serving of 4-bean veggie chile and you get extra texture a little like ground beef.